CRASS ANGE: Rondo of Controversy and Exploitation
by Grand Phoenix
Summary: It's offensive! It's lewd! It's a train wreck no one can turn away from! Follow the story of a girl whose life falls apart, gets sent to a remote prison island, and must fight dragons from another dimension, all for the sake of SURVIVAL! [Extreme OOC, TO THE MAX!]
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_A/N: I've always wanted to do a story of an anime that follows the canon storyline but in my brand of M-rated comedy: the over-the-top language and general randomness inspired by the likes of Family Guy and South Park (something that, as much as I want to, would never be allowed on DeviantArt) but would poke fun at itself. If there was one anime I would gladly parody, it would be Heartcatch Precure._

_Then came the polarizing reaction to the screening of Cross Ange's first episode the week before it premiered, and then came the absolute shitstorm following, ahem, THAT SCENE everyone was talking about. To some degrees, the general themes are still being brought up (primarily from the Western audience, although, from what I read, a part of the Japanese audience share these criticisms)._

_I'm not watching Cross Ange for the inevitable bitch-fest that'll come up from every episode, wondering if there'll be "rape" or if Task (Kira Yamato 2.0) will hijack Ange's role halfway through the story or whatever the hell rustles someone's jimmies. I'm watching it for the goddamn story and the goddamn DRAGONS. And people that are watching it should have an open mind and give it a few episodes before deeming it "trash"._

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><p><strong>WARNING:<strong>

**This story is absolute shit. Do not read this for any reason whatsoever. Liking this story means that you are a misogynist and an apologist who condones sexual abuse, bullying, suspicious camera angles that provide titillation, and Fukuda Mitsuo face-lifting stock footage from Gundam Seed. The following story contains content unsuitable for younger audiences, Moral Guardians, and Social Justice Warriors.**

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><p><strong>0.<br>****The World's First Anime with Mature Themes**

The para-mails fell into formation, the ocean rolling away from them like a mirage as they cut through the sky. They passed through the clouds, feeling the chill of the wind on exposed patches of skin, threading through their hair.

Up ahead, the fabric of space folded in on itself, twisted, crackled with energy pushing to break free. She saw it and ceased her singing, and the communication channel became that much quieter. Still, as if the world held its breath.

"Salia Squad, you're approaching the singularity at forty-five-hundred kliks," the operator reported in from her station at Arzenal. "Prepare to release safety and engage combat."

"You heard her!" Salia called. "All units are to enter the battle zone immediately!" As soon as she finished speaking there was a clap of thunder, then another, a third, and above the din of the engines there was a sound like paper tearing that drowned it out. The streams of energy intensified, rippled and wavered like a child's drawing of the ocean's waves, and the rift began to open.

One by one the dark dots crossed the breach, some announcing their presence with ululating cries and some with powerful, throaty roars. A massive form slithered into view, towering over its smaller brethren.

Vivian whooped excitedly. "_Ooooo-eee!_ Look at that motherfucker fly! What a big boy!"

"Oh please, we all know that fucker's compensating for something!" Rosalie quipped.

"Gah! I-I-I can't do this!" Chris panicked. "Holy shit, we're gonna die for sure this time! It's game over, man! Game over! GAH!"

"Calm your tits! We've got this. Just think of all the coffee you can down and the coke you can snort when we get back."

"TTHERE'S NO COKE IN HEAVEN!"

"We'll be alright," Ersha gently assured Chris. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner you can imbibe in your thinly veiled recreational vices and eat."

"FUCK YEAH!" Vivian hollered, eliciting static from the channel. "We're gonna dine like primadonna bitches in heat tonight! Meat and beans and ENCHI-FUCKIN'-LADAS!"

"Fuck enchiladas, I could go for some tacos," Hilda grumbled.

"Tacos?! Hell no! You need more meat on them bones, girl! Get you some fried chicken!"

"Man that shit's genetically modified. Rather have something that's, you know, organic and doesn't murder my arteries…."

"We didn't come out here to bullshit these bastards to sleep!" Salia barked, a vein throbbing angrily on her temple. "Call in!" There was a resounding choir of "yes, ma'ams" (from Vivian there was the usual "let's make it rain, make it rain, make it rain on those bloody hoes!"). However, there was one voice the squad leader didn't discern. "You too, Ange! Don't make me address you by your call sign!"

Ersha winced. "Ah, Salia, I still don't think it's an appropriate nickname to give her—"

"C'mon, Bottom Bitch! Holla back'atcha girls!" Rosalie snipped, drowning her wingman out.

"Don't be shy, we were all bottom bitches at one point!" said Vivian. "Ring in loud and clear!"

From the holographic screens, Ange rolled her eyes, pursed her lips, and shook her head. "Yes, _ma'am_," she drawled.

"FINALLY!" Salia cried. "Now look alive, we've got bogies incoming!" And so they were, for while they were shooting the shit the beasts were beating their wings as hard as they could, closing the distance that the squad should have been covering to intercept instead. She counted them with her eyes. "Twenty Schooners and a Brig!" As if in response, the monster opened its mouth and bellowed.

"BULLSHIT! That's gotta be a Galleon!" Hilda scoffed.

Chris twitched and flailed spasmodically. "GAH-HA! It's even bigger up close!"

"There now, everything will be alright," said Ersha.

"Hey, Nanoha! That thirty-thousand's goin' straight in my bag!" Rosalie hollered out, pressing flush against the side of the para-mail. "Better get ready to pay up!"

"Dammit all to the nine hells!" Hilda growled. "For the last time, my name isn't Nanoha! Get it right, you stupid bitch!"

"THEY'RE SO TINY!" Vivian gushed at the approaching horde. "LIKE PIGEONS! Oh, I could just squish them!"

Ange sighed and ran a hand down her face. "Gods help me, I'm surrounded by former friends and enemies reincarnated into maniacs…."

"Hey, Bottom Bitch, go save us some trouble and scare the shit out of those bastards while we blow them the fuck up from a distance!" said Rosalie.

She groaned. "Once again, my blood has nothing to do with their inexplicable fear and disinterest towards me."

"Then why do they keep bailing out like that, eh?! Daughter of the Dragon Spooker, you are!"

"Put a dick in it."

"Oh my," said Ersha, leaning back in her seat to observe. "As much as I like to banter with everyone, I believe we should focus on the horde that is more or less imminently descending upon us—"

"WHA-HAHAHA! They're almost on top of us!" Chris all but screamed.

Rosalie threw her head back and laughed. "Kinky!"

"_GOD! DAMMIT!_ ALL OF YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP AND CONCENTRATE!" Salia yelled, her face hot and red with anger.

Chris sniffed tearfully. "B-But…!"

"PIGEONS!" Vivian crowed gleefully.

"Just get into Extermination Mode, open safeties, and prepare for bombardment! FUCKING! HELL! How difficult do you guys have to make it just to pay attention to your goddamn squad leader?!"

Gunning their engines and deploying their wings, the para-mail formation blasted toward the winged beasts. The rift closing behind them, the lone Brig and its Schooners snarled and brought up a psychedelic rainbow of magical circles in front of themselves and each other.

So did the dragons—or rather, for some reason or another, they're referred to the Dimensional Rift Attuned Gargantuan Organic Neotypes, who the hell knows why—launched their assault against the squad of puny humans on their flying motorbikes.

"Mission response has been confirmed," said the operator, her words barely heard.

"CONTACT!" Salia cried. "OPEN FIRE!"

Shells coughed from single-barrel cannons, the recoil of the expulsion pushing the para-mails back. Some made their mark and erupted in billowing clouds of smoke and fire. The dragons pressed on, retaliating with salvos of magical energy, while the humans switched to their guns and let the bullets fly. These tore thick gouges across their scaly hides, punched holes in their wings and peppered their skulls into fine red mist.

"Target neutralized!"

_"Go go go go go!"_

"BURN THE _CIT-Y!_ SMASH THE _STATE!_"

"_MAKER PRESERVE MEEEEEEE!"_

"Eight Schooners down!"

"All rearguard units deploy for barrage at five-hundred!" Salia commanded. "Block them off! LET! NONE! PASS!"

Chris shook her head violently, hair flying back and forth in a whirlwind. "Dear Maker, NO! We're not gonna make it—!"

_"JUST DO IT!"_

Against her better judgment she did; along with Rosalie and Ersha their para-mails switched to Assault Mode. Blocky, mechanical legs dropped from the undersides and locked into place. The stabilizers lifted, split down the middle, spread apart into arms, and covered the cockpits. Heads jutted out from within and uploaded topographical data to the systems the instant the crosshairs passed over and locked onto their targets. Then they flew into the swarm, thrusters blasting waves of intense heat, guns brandished and unleashing a slew of ballistic hell.

"Now, vanguard units…_ATTACK!_"

The rest of the squad followed, para-mails changing into giant mobile suits. Guns rattled and barked. Axes swung and severed limbs trying to claw them. Blades were flung and sliced twin halves through bodies whose shields could not sustain them. Blood flowed and splashed across metallic exteriors, fountained in crimson jets and rained down on the sea below.

Weaving in and out of spellfire, Ange heard a dragon was cut off in mid-roar and dissolved into spurts of white noise over the com channel. "Hey Rosie Palms, you hear that?!" Hilda's voice relayed. "That's the sound of those fat bazookas you call breasts weeping with despair when I jack the thirty-thou from your hands!"

"As if! I bet you don't even know what you're going to do with it!" said Rosalie.

"I know you need a breast reduction!"

"Hey, fuck you! I'm big and proud of it! At least my bra's not stuffed with TURKEY FEATHERS!"

"HERETIC! YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

Ange groaned and hung her head. "Maker's breath." She lifted her eyes, noting that the Brig was lagging behind its brethren. Its wingspan was incredible, stretching across the sky as though it wished to embrace the world and rend it asunder in twisted consummation. From afar it suspended like the chime of a grandfather clock, looming large and fierce in dreadful beauty. What would it do if it saw her? Would it attack, or would it flee? The others were far too involved in the fight to smell her blood and take notice, or perhaps they finally had the common sense to give a fuck-all about her and act like the dumb brutes that they were.

Her upper lip curled in a disdainful snarl. She would not be denied a fight from a dragon, let alone big-ass motherfuckers like that pussy Brig! "Let's go, Vilkis!" She revved the engine and floored it, breaking formation. The squad was alerted to her departure, the sound of their feedback squealing and chirping from the headset's receptors.

"What the hell? Again?!" said Hilda.

"Get back in formation!" said Salia.

"Dammit, Bottom Bitch, stop trying to prove me wrong!" said Rosalie. "AH, MOTHERFUCKER!" She recoiled as a stream of mana lanced up the mobile suit's left side in miniature explosions.

"No, Ange, don't do it!" Ersha cried. "Don't be a hero—oh, oh shit THAT HURTS!" Sparks rained from the para-mail's right arm as a second barrage struck it.

_"Goooo, Ange, goooooo!"_ Vivian yodeled as she struggled to contain a Schooner in a one-armed headlock. It shrieked and fought against her grip, wings beating dents and talons scraping gashes against the mecha. "BAPTIZE THE SEAS WITH ITS BLOOD! FEED THE LORDS WITH ITS FLESH!" Chris zoomed by behind her, backwards, screaming, unloading an endless barrage of bullets at a pair of Schooners.

Ange ignored them. Confirming emissions, she activated Assault Mode and half-turned the twin handles she held. The wind whistled as the cockpit descended upon her, but she did not feel it. Her eyes remained solely on the Brig. It did not move, save to call upon the magic circles and launch its barrage. She braced for impact.

Cleaving a Schooner in two, Salia raised her weapon at the Schooners chasing down Chris only to pause at the sight of the downdraft of black smoke. "Ange!"

"She couldn't have survived that!" Chris wailed beneath her. With a swing from the hand-axe she knocked the Schooner aside with the flat of the blade, then turned to regard the sight. "That was a direct hit!"

"Well shit, this complicates things!" said Hilda. "Who's going to be Bottom Bitch now?"

"YOU ARE!" was the immediate response; and like a bird taking off in flight a glorious white mobile suit shot out. The womanly figurehead gracing its crown gleaned a meteoric light. It rushed at the Brig, the cusp of its right hand radiating a hot blue.

"I! AM! _ANGE!_ This hand of mine glows with an awesome power, and it's telling me to _FUCK YOU UP!_ I am going to live! I will survive! I will kill you, and _YOU! WILL! DIE!_" She put on a burst of speed and the dragon drew closer, grew sharper in relief and more detailed, the tang of victory and pride soon to ripe on her lips—!

The Brig took one long, pointed look at her, blew a smoke ring from its nostrils, turned around and crawled back the way it had come.

Ange braked so fast she almost rolled ass over kettle. The energy in her hand dimmed. "…What?"

The dragon glanced behind it and…her jaw went slack. Not only did it look scared, but it was sweating profusely! It roared, and the remaining Schooners answered in kind; as a perfect example of herd mentality, they suddenly ceased attacking the customs and flew in the opposite direction. Everyone watched them go in stunned silence.

It was broken by a long, nasally wheeze from Rosalie, as if the breath had been knocked out of her, and then she was laughing uproariously. "What did I tell you?! Once a Dragon Spooker, always a Dragon Spooker!"

"Oh thank the Maker! I can finally catch a breath!" Chris gasped, popping up right next to Ersha.

She nodded. "Yes, but we shouldn't stay idle for long. They might open another rift and escape—"

"GET THE FUCK BACK HERE!" Ange yelled with such vitriol her voice cracked. The wings opened, flared, and she took off. "I WASN'T FINISHED!" Some of the small fry that looked back screeched in fear, and they hastened to catch up with the Brig and regroup beneath the shadows of its large bulk.

"Hey wait up!" said Vivian. "I want to commit wholesale slaughter, too!"

"Ah, Vivian!" said Ersha, chasing after her. "Slow down, you're going too fast!"

"For FUCK'S SAKE, PEOPLE! Stop losing your shit!" Salia barked.

"Maker's knickers, you're all mad!" said Chris. "Let them go!"

"So they can phase out and recuperate? Not a chance," Hilda grunted, and snatched the twitchy girl by the wrist. "C'mon, before we lose sight of Scorpion, the lunatic, and the one sane chick."

Rosalie put a hand on her hip and tossed her head back. "And what do you consider me, my little red-headed she-devil?"

"A bad case of diarrhea of the mouth!"

She cackled and took the rear. "So do we all! Ain't that right, Cap'n?"

"FUCK YOU!"

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><p>At Arzenal, the operator watched their mission go to shambles. She pulled off the communicator and dropped her head to the desk, pressing in random keys on the keyboard. Her shoulders rose and fell in a bovine chuff. A colleague sitting next to her jumped at the sudden noise. "I'm done," she said with a tone of finality. "I'm…I'm done."<p>

"H-Hey, they'll catch up," said the other girl, reaching consolingly out to her.

She stopped her cold with a raised hand. "Don't. Just don't." Another heavy, world-weary sigh escaped her. "I can't wait for this to be over."

"People have been waiting for it to be over before it began."

The operator turned her head aside and glared at the girl. "That makes no fucking sense."

She thought to herself for a moment. "Yeah," she said afterwards. "You're right. Nobody ever gives things a chance. Too quick to judge and too quick to condemn."

They basked in quietude, broken by the soft, muted hum of the computers.

"Ah well," the girl said. She sat up, stretched her arms and popped the joints in her hands. "Let's grab some burgers and watch the wheel burn. Everybody loves train wrecks!"


	2. 1-1

**1.  
>It Ain't Easy Being Remotely In-Character<strong>

_**EARLIER, IN THE NOT-SO DISTANT PAST….**_

"Do you see that rainbow, sis?"

She peered over the girl's pointed finger, past the horse's long neck and the sprawling meadow they stood idle in. Somewhere far away, or perhaps somewhere closer than it appeared to be, was a beautiful arch resplendent in all the colors of the spectrum. The Royal Palace rose beneath it, a shimmering mirage, and there bloomed the temptation to reach out and capture it in the cusp of her hand.

"I do," she said. "It's very beautiful."

"Legend has it that whenever you see a rainbow, it means there's someone out there that's even more bent out of shape."

She sighed world-weary and mentally kicking herself. "Maker, I should've never had Momoka with me when we gave you the Talk."

"But it's true, isn't it?"

She lightly scratched her cheek. "Well…um, yeah. But don't let Mom and Dad hear you say that. Not even Julio. They'll think we're categorizing them with—"

"Oh I wouldn't! We're normal and the Norma…well, they're special!" She leaned back into her chest and closed her eyes, breathing a content sigh. Then she opened them and craned her neck up at her, smiling. "The Air League Championship's next week."

"Yup. Training's going to be hell."

"As your little sister, I wholeheartedly give you my blessing to wreck the opposition with equal amounts blue-blooded verve and BURNING LOVE!" said Sylvia, fists pumped and eyes sparkling with the light of competition. "Even if there should be the possibility that they could win by a mere stroke of luck, the fires of your passion and youth will carry you to absolute victory!"

"I can't guarantee we'll win," she said. "Florian has always managed to get into the semi-finals…."

"But you'll give it your all, won't you? You have to! You have to promise me you'll give 'em a righteous ass-kicking! An ass-kicking so resounding they'll feel it when they sit down for their class reunion ten years from now!"

"Alright, alright." She folded her hands upon her breast and cleared her throat. "I hereby swear to uphold the integrity of the Misurugi Empire and its royal family by soundly handing Rosenblum their check in a place where it more or less better bounce…because if it doesn't and it bounces back to me, not to mention the rest of my team, not only will the media not let me live it down my sister will see to it she makes me feel very crappy and very, very guilty." She looked at her pointedly. "Isn't that right, Sylvia?"

The girl laughed. "Don't you know it!" Then she calmed, and her smile was pleasant, lovely, and it filled her as with the warmth of the sun to see her happy. "I'll be rooting for you, sis."

Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi grinned. "I know you will. And I'll win, too, because no one—and nobody—messes with your sister!" She pulled Sylvia against her and rubbed her knuckles against the top of her girl.

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><p>Yes, she would remember months from now, hardened, battle-scarred, and telling Hilda to beat the shit out of that turkey she thought she saw passing by and leave her to her chronicling in scholarly, contemplative peace, those were the good ole days.<p>

Damn Transmigrant, making her dredge up memories of her sworn enemies. But hey, it got her to further cement her vow to personally see to their extinction in this brave new crapsack world. At least until Hilda realized there was no turkey and came roaring back to throwdown hardcore, but for now everything was fine and dandy.

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><p>"<em>Y'ALL READY FO' THIS?!"<em>

Music blared from the speakers, bass dropping it hot and thumping like the heartbeat of some gargantuan beast deep beneath the earth. All around the stadium people cheered and whooped; on one end a group of fans painted in the colors of Florian Academy did the wave, while those that represented Phoenix Academy flashed large banners with messages of encouragement and boasts.

"_The sweat and blood of youth! The Light of Mana! This! Is! The Laria Air League Championship, coming to you live from the Empire of Misurugi! Who will take home the grand prize?! Will it be Florian Academy from Rosenblum, captained by Princess Misty? Or will it be Misurugi's Phoenix Institute, lead by Princess Angelise?!"_

The noise was deafening; the warmth of the engine's beneath her hand was all that reminded her that it was still operating. Angelise stood and leaned over the dashboard, gauging the playing field. Florian was holding tight to the ball, passing it between each other, weaving back and forth across the court to cut off Phoenix's defenders. She adjusted the grip on the racket—

"You know, Milady, as much as I appreciate the wonderful view that's just happened to rise up like the sunrise, I need you to sit your ass down!" Momoka said behind her. "I can't see shit!"

Angelise blushed. "S-Sorry, but we don't have much time left—"

"Quit worrying, we've got this! Now c'mon." Momoka slapped her rear. "Down, girl! Before I give 'em babies a good ole—"

"Alright, alright, I'm sitting down!" Angelise firmly planted her ass back into her seat. "God!" she grumbled. Then, returning her attention to the game, "We're going in deep, you hear? Strike fast and strike hard. That should give us enough time to intercept the ball and make the shot…." Momoka giggled, and Angelise twisted around to smack the engine. "Stop that!"

"I can't help it!" she said, covering her mouth to stifle another bout.

"Ugh, you're so juvenile!" Angelise rolled her eyes and turned away. "Now if you're done fantasizing about God only knows what goes on inside that head of yours, let's get moving! I promised Sylvia I'd come home a champion!"

"As you wish, Milady!" said Momoka, her face serious and focused. Then a grin broke out and she smothered the bubbling laughter with pursed lips. "Hard and fast and deep, oh my!" Angelise groaned, resisting the urge to slide a hand down her face. She brought the racket to bear as the racer growled and descended toward the field.

They bore down on a Florian zoomer whose front-seat passenger swung the ball toward a passing teammate. Momoka swept between them and Angelise raised her racket, catching the missile squarely within the net. The crowd roared all around them, rising to a crescendo and then falling like the coming tide.

"Lady Angelise!" said a redheaded girl pulling up behind her.

"Go long, Akiho!" said Angelise. "Make it count! We're taking back the lead!"

"Yes, ma'am!" She and her driver flew off, accompanied by two more Phoenix students guarding their flank. In response, three Florian girls moved to intercept them.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Star Fox!" said the Lady Misty of Rosenblum. "Our victory has been assured!"

"Hmph, you think so?" Angelise ceased bouncing the ball in its net and snapped the racket into place. "Then let's decide here and now." To her team, she commanded, "Do not let them pass!" They answered in the affirmatives, gunned their engines, and took flight.

Misty nodded. "Very well! Let's go!" She signaled her driver, and she brought them to bear into the sky.

Momoka switched gears and kicked the racer into motion. They shot across the field, bobbed in between Phoenix and Florian girls locked in an aerial struggle for an advantage and, ultimately, the push for dominance. Angelise's knuckles flared white with the intensity of her grip. She chanced a glance at the clock and balked at the clock; thirty seconds left! Biting back a curse, she tore her eyes away from it and settled them on Akiho.

"How are we looking?" she asked Momoka.

"We're in range! Give it all you've got!"

Bunching the muscles in her arms tightly, Angelise swept the racket up and out and flung the ball with a cry. It sailed through the air, a yellow streak of a blur against a colorful backdrop of screaming fans. Both Akiho and the Florian girl reached for it, their rackets clashing together in an attempt to catch it.

As did their vehicles; Akiho, who had been standing to reach the ball, was knocked out of her seat. "Shit!" She hung there for all of a second, blindly grasping for the belly of the racer, and then she was falling. "Oh, oh, _oh shiiiiiiiit!_"

The crowd gasped. Angelise shot up to her feet. "Momoka!"

Momoka yelped and held up her hands, catching what would have been a face full of ass. "Dat ass! I mean, yeah, right, I'm on it!" Pushing her princess away with one hand, she used the other to trace a pattern atop the engine; the tips of her fingers shone an iridescent blue. "Light of Mana! Accelerate!"

"I thought it was Haste?!"

"Same thing!"

The spell, combined with Momoka pushing down on the accelerator, ignited the thrusters in a burst of heat emissions and excess mana that propelled the machine like a bullet shot from a gun's chamber. They were quickly approaching Akiho, and as they closed in on her Angelise dropped the racket. She bent her knees and jumped, right at the moment Momoka braked hard and swerved into a powerslide.

Arms outstretched, she caught the girl and wrapped them over her head. In that instant they crashed to the ground and rolled to a stop, churning up grass and dirt in their wake.

"_Incredible!" _said the announcer. _"Princess Angelise has put her life on the line to rescue a teammate!"_

Akiho groaned and sat up, limbs shaking with nerves and adrenaline. She wiped the sweat from her brow and ran her fingers through greasy forelocks. "Lady Angelise? Are you alri—by the Maker!"

"Hey," the girl beneath her said, smiling, "you're not hurt, are you?"

"Milady, you're bleeding!" There was a rivulet of blood sliding down her face from a cut at the very top of her forehead, right where her hairline began.

Angelise laughed. "It can't be that bad! Other than this mildly burning sensation going on between my eyes, that is. But you're fine; that's all that matters to me."

Akiho cringed. "Y-Yeah. Let me, uh, take care of that." She withdrew a handkerchief, shook it out, and dabbed the princess's face with it. When she was done, she got off and sat back.

"My thanks," said Angelise, standing. She held out a hand and Akiho took it, pulling her up with her. Suddenly, the buzzer sounded, cutting loudly and clearly throughout the stadium. They looked at the scoreboard and Angelise frowned. The score was three to two. Florian had won.

"_And that's the end of the match! Rosenblum's Florian Academy is this year's Air League champion! Despite an incredible run, Phoenix Institute was unable to pull through! However, that does not discount the amazing comeback they've made since being closed to disbanded!"_ The stadium shook with their cheers, of a thousand-thousand hands clapping for them, congratulating them for a great game. _"Even Prince Julio and Princess Sylvia are giving them a round of applause!"_

Angelise turned and regarded one of the high-definition screens displayed intermittently high above the stands. It showed her older brother and younger sister in the sky box. As usual, Julio had the look of a dog that had too many skin folds, with his brow pinched and lips pulled back in either a grimace or some half-assed attempt at a genuine smile. He didn't give much of a shit when it came to laria, but yet he participated in such an event to maintain appearances. _Dude looks like he swallowed a lemon whole and can't get it down. Poor bastard. Mom always warned him if he kept making those kinds of faces it'll get stuck and stay that._

_Actually, that wouldn't be so bad. _The corners of her lips quirked up in a smirk, but it was quashed when she saw Sylvia. How happy she was, reclined back in the hoverchair, even in the midst of defeat. Her chest tightened at the thought. _Sorry, kid. I couldn't keep my promise._

Her team gathered around them, their footsteps dragging, shoulders slumped and heavy as though with burden. The sweat made their hair greasy and straw-like, and dampened their uniforms, but their faces were weary, red, and crestfallen. A couple of them looked frustrated, their week's worth of training and memorizing stratagems until they could recite it in their nightmares all for naught. (And those dreams involved the so-called Norma 'agenda', propaganda that advocated some idiot philosophy called _diversity_, which espoused how proud they were of being completely incapable of wielding magic and that they had things that could utterly level Misurugi in a matter of days. Like this paper called _money_, where you could buy stuff and sex and drugs you could abuse to trip balls and shit, but who in their rights mind would want to waste time and resources when you could get all that for free? What did Julio say they were called? Oh right. _Capitalists._ Bunch of no-good, dirty, special capitalists.)

There was a sniffling, a hiccup (or a cough, they both sounded the same), and Angelise saw that Akiho was crying. "F-Forgive me, Milady!" she said. "It's because I tried to act like a badass that I cost us the match!"

"Hey girl, that's not true!" said one of the drivers. "We were holdin' her back! Everybody knows Lady Angelise is top bitch whenever we hold our practice drills! She can fuck us over in a free-for-all if she felt like it! Get us down on our hands and knees and beg for the Maker and that one tube of KY jelly!" Everyone stared at her, incredulous. She coughed, cleared her throat, and avoided their gazes. "M-Metaphorically speaking, that is. You understand, don't you, Milady?"

Angelise bit back a groan. Everyone sure liked acting out of character, didn't they? It was as though they acted like that on purpose to arouse a quick laugh, whether out of shock value or utter stupidity that leaves you speechless. "Listen, Akiho," she began. "Don't you remember? When the season began, we made a promise. A promise to fight for something more important than winning. We swore we would use this opportunity to show the competition, our friends and family what we can really do and to help each other out. For you see, my friend, we proved that our bond is unrivaled! Our bond is what got us through in the end! That…is our greatest victory!" She beamed with pride as the cheers and applause were renewed and reached a crescendo. She didn't have to look to see every cameraman was focused on her, capturing her image on the big screens.

"An excellent speech, Lady Angelise!" said Misty, approaching the group of Institute students.

"Ah, Lady Misty. Congratulations on your victory, as is due. You've performed admirably." Angelise held out her hand and the other girl shook it. She had a firm, strong grip, and Angelise could feel the rough bumps of her calluses scrape against her skin like the bristles of a hard brush.

"And you as well! I'm more than honored to have played against you."

"Likewise," said Angelise. "But don't get too cocky, Star Wolf. Once I've completed the Purification Ritual, I'll be back on the field and taking names. Doesn't matter how busy I'll get, I'm going to even the score at the fall tournament. So you better be up to par by then! I would hate to have to fight an opponent who doesn't give it her all!" And she grinned, and squeezed Misty's hand hard enough for the ghosts of her finger bones to pop out.

Misty winced, bright and swift, but it passed and it was replaced with an equally toothy grinned. "Of course! I look forward to our rematch. Best of luck to you on your ritual, Milady." She and her team took their leave. Most of them were jumping up and down, clapping each other on the back, jostling shoulders, relishing the moment.

"Lady Angelise," said Akiho, when they were gone, "are you sure?"

Angelise dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "It's fine. Until then, I'll leave the Air League to you." Her teammates groaned. Some of them scuffed the turf. Others averted their eyes and fiddled with their rackets, scratched their cheeks, or suddenly developed an intense interest in the internal workings of their racers' engines. "What?"

"Milady," said Momoka, "the last time you left Akiho in charge, she added parkour to the training regimen."

"What's so bad about that?"

Akiho grimaced, rubbed the back of her neck. "I, um, may or may not have attempted a leap of faith off the Royal Palace. I might've seen a flatbed truck coming down off the highway and, er, may have gotten into my head that if I timed it just right I'd experience vertigo and make time come to a standstill while in the middle of a free-fall and land in a pile of plastic-wrapped mattresses stuffed with hawk feathers, for, you know, hawks are the immortal enemy of the turkey. And, well, I _was_ on the lowest part of the palace, like, really low, low enough to try and cannonball into the courtyard's pool—the one shaped like a guitar, right. But I did give myself a good running start, you see, and when I jumped I, uh—"

"She bounced off the damn truck, rolled off the highway, missed a dumpster by a few inches and broke every bone in her body," Momoka interrupted, clicking her tongue. "Including her ass!" Half the team gave Akiho pained, commiserative glances, while the other half shook their heads.

"Maker's breath, Akiho!" Angelise exclaimed. "What were you thinking?!"

"You know how second-in-commands get when they're given the mantle! I was drunk off the power!"

"No kidding! How are you not dead?"

"Light of Mana Mistweaving from the hospital," said Momoka, quite matter-of-factly. "They set everything back in place and put her in a full-body cast for almost the whole season. Would've gone much quicker if Old Man Heisenberg came along; we sent him a missive to apply his holy artes but he never did. He was kind enough to give us a response, though."

"What'd he say?"

"Something about waiting on a burning legion, or a dark portal opening up in the middle of Misurugi that'll make the past and the present collide and allow an army of extraterrestrial creatures from the beyond to wage global genocide upon us. But hey," Momoka shrugged, "you know how much Old Man Heisenberg loves making up stories on the fly. Dude popped his membrane years ago."

Again with that nonsense? If he didn't relent he was going to be charged for promoting material that would not only corrupt the Empire's youth but confuse the hell out of everyone and question the person's sanity. "Well, perhaps it's for the best," said Angelise. "But seriously, Akiho, ease up on the parkour. I don't want to have to see you in a casket."

"Or a boneless, limbless puddle of sagging flesh," said Momoka, and balked at Angelise's gob-smacked reaction. "No, seriously, that shit happens."

"Whatever. Just…take it easy, alright? And you guys make sure she doesn't go on another power-trip," she told the Phoenix aerialists, and they nodded and affirmed that they would, by any means necessary (of which Angelise really didn't want to know let alone hear; where did they get these ideas?) "Good. You all did well today, and regardless of the outcome you've still made me proud. Go to your families now and take care. We'll ride again soon." She shook hands with them, backslapped them, and bid them farewell.


	3. 1-2

"Milady, I'm not going to tell you again: _sit up_ and _don't slouch_," Momoka grated, and to get her point across groped the girl's ass, causing her to yelp and straighten. She nodded, smiling. "That's better! Easier for me to get these tangles out." She removed her other hand from beneath that royal bosom, fetched the comb, and resumed her task.

Angelise blew air from her cheeks and looked to the ceiling, her face a cross somewhere between muted despair and exasperation. "…You didn't have to do that." The memory of her touch made her flush, and not from the heat emitted from the limo's interior lights.

"It could be worse," said Sylvia, lounging back against the cushions. Hands folded over her bosom and leg crossed atop the other, she had a playful, smug little smile on her face that Angelise found inspired dread in her.

"Indeed," Julio agreed, nodding. His smirk was wide and handsome and Angelise knew it meant trouble. "It could be so much worse. Like, hmm, let me see"—he tapped a finger on his chin, mimicking deep, meditative thought.

"Don't even go there," said Angelise. "Seriously, man, I'm too tired to put up with your shenanigans right now."

"Shenanigans?" Julio laughed. "Sister dearest, I'm only jesting. Besides, they're harmless little pranks. There's no lasting damage to your psyche, no permanent injuries that I'm able to tell."

Angelise scoffed. "Yeah, man. Throwing your so-called holy hand grenade into my bedroom and screaming 'Norma!' while I'm asleep is such a riot. I had everything rearranged and appropriated asymmetrically, too, to harmonize that positive flow of energy I've been missing out during my practices."

"Your self-portrait wasn't congruent with the rest of the furniture. It played havoc with my OCD, you understand. I looked all over for that patented reset button that, you know, wipes a particular portion of space of one's choosing to a clean slate, but I simply couldn't! It was beyond me, so I went with the next best thing I had at my disposal."

"You _blew up_ my _bedroom_," Angelise said, slowly and pointedly, "with a _hand grenade_. You blew up _Sylvia's room_ and had the entire palace on lockdown."

"Yeah," said Sylvia, displeased. "That, uh, that wasn't cool, bro. I liked my room the way it was. 'S not the same anymore."

"They had us interrogated!" Angelise went on, gesturing with her hands with wild abandon. "Your guards, my guards, Sylvia's guards, _Mom and Dad's guards_, they asked us questions that didn't make any sense! Like, like, do we love hawks and hate turkeys. Did we have money to start a sanctuary for Norma or, or, if I'll introduce capitalism and open up a whole new branch of employment built on the principle of equal opportunity to all the folk big and small in Misurugi!"

"They asked me to twerk," Sylvia added, eyelids drooping in a half-glare. "I don't even know what that means, but when I asked they didn't even tell me. They just asked me if I twerk." She let her hands fall to her lap and turned her palms up, giving Julio a look that clearly said _Does it look like I can pop booty?_ "Apparently the Normas have a ton of hobbies to keep 'em busy, and each one is capable of sending the entire Empire into a state of moral panic and economic collapse."

He raised a brow. "Do they? Interesting. I wasn't aware merely breathing the same air and going against the norm is, in itself, a crime against humanity." Realizing what he had just said, Julio put a closed fist to his mouth and laughed. "So _that's_ why we call them Norma! Oh, Angelise, I just made a joke!"

"You are a joke," Angelise grumbled, loudly enough for everyone to hear. Sylvia covered a snicker with a cough. Julio chuckled and rested his cheek on that closed fist, elbow digging into the armrest. The car entered a tunnel and the lights and windows adjusted to the change of environments. "Anyway, let's change the subject (for all our sakes). How'd we do out there?"

Julio waved his free hand in the air. "It…could've been better. You're as excitable as over; you just don't know when to sit down and stay down…."

"That's what I keep telling her," Momoka sang knowingly, "but does she listen? No she doesn't!" She ran the teeth of the comb through a knot she had been whittling away at.

Angelise winced and resisted the urge to scratch the spot. "You're one to talk. Where do you get off getting aroused by way of me trying to get a better view of the field?"

"But you were so in your element, sis!" Sylvia gushed. "You were immersed, you were involved! You had the die in your grasp and cast them into the verdant sea of YOUTH and NON-VIOLENT COMPETITION! The way you leapt off the racer to save Akiho was boss! No, it was bitchin'!"

Angelise smiled. Things were finally regaining some semblance of normalcy. "Her life was in danger, so it was only right for me to get to her as fast as possible and catch her."

"Else she really would've been a limbless, boneless puddle of sagging flesh," said Momoka. "All over the stadium. KER-SPLAT!" She ripped the comb through the tangled mess of hair bunched in her grip, causing Angelise's eyes to bug out at the intensity flashing across her skull. "You should thank your lucky stars I was driving! No offense, but if you'd been in my place you'd have flipped the racer over and blown us up in flames!"

"I would not!"

A corner of Julio's mouth rose in a smile. "We can never stop worrying when Angelise is around, can we, Momoka?"

"Oh everything with her is like undergoing a trial by fire!" Momoka ceased her ministrations and ticked them off with her fingers. "Her driving, her cooking, her marksmanship, her dressing herself, not to mention her horseback riding—"

"You're about one heartbeat away from going to the unemployment line," Angelise growled.

"And coming right back out as a contributing member of society!" Momoka countered cheerily.

"Well excuse me for not learning how to take care of myself, even though I'm surrounded by a plethora of maids and manservants who practice home economics for a living. I have these spurts of short-term memory, you know."

"But I still keep trying, even though all my effort is futile and thrown out the window!"

"Give Momoka a break, sis," Sylvia said gently. "I mean, I don't know how to do any of that stuff, either. She's just looking out for us, making sure we don't bring about an influx of negative energies to our environments and working staff. Depression, ennui, endless soul-searching, they all suck big time."

"Look," Angelise began, "starting tomorrow I'm going to undergo the Purification Ritual and take my first steps into adulthood. Maker's breath, I'm a princess and daughter of Misurugi! The leash has to come off sooner or later. How will I ever come out into my own if I'm being treated like a child?"

"Well technically, until the ritual," Momoka began, "you still kinda are…."

"That's beside the point." Angelise huffed. She leaned back against the seat and took a glance out the window, just in time for the car to emerge from the tunnel onto the interchange. Below the lanes, sprawling far and wide like colorful building blocks, was the Empire; this high up she could spot the telltale flickers of holoscreens plastered with her image, no doubt reminding everyone of the upcoming event. They would see her in full as the person they knew her to be: poised, regal, and fair, just like a real imperial princess of the Crown. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, she quite enjoyed being the people's princess, but "I want to continue being me," she added, looking at Julio. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

The other corner of his mouth lifted. "Of course not…but you'll still continue playing laria, won't you? In between your newfound duties, you may find yourself become overburdened."

"It's what I like to do," said Angelise, and then, in a deadpan voice, "just like you enjoy crying wolf everywhere you go when your sisters are around because you have never nothing or no one better to do with your bad self."

Julio grinned, bearing a sliver of perfectly straight, white teeth. "You're such a selfish girl."

"I'm only human. I don't claim to perfect. I don't _want_ to be perfect, and I believe that's what's best for me and for our people." Angelise peered out the window again. The car was now on level ground and passing through an illustrious shopping district. Here she could see the holoscreens more closely, the quality of her pictures crystal clear at the highest definition possible. Here she could see little girls through the glass doors of salons beaming at the stylists who cast their illusory spells so as to make them take the guise of a younger Angelise. Here she could see men putting together the stage, their hands alight with the healthy green glow of Mana.

Everyone was happy and smiling. Their devotion and patience to princess and kingdom showed in the lightness of their steps, the surety of their daily activities, and Angelise was glad. "You'll see, Julio," she told him. "With my Light of Mana I'll pave the path toward an even brighter future, and even then I won't forget myself. Now _that_ would be unbecoming of a Princess of Misurugi."

Julio dismissed it with a wave. "If you say so."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the car's alarm system blared. Gravity shifted and readjusted as the vehicle ground to a halt. There was the sound of engines powering down and doors opening and closing. A pair of guards jogged past the windows on both sides.

Julio's door opened, revealing a woman dressed in a sharp business suit and white overcoat. "Sir, please remain inside the vehicle."

"What's the situation, Riza?" he asked her.

"It's a Norma," she said. "This'll take a moment. We'll have this resolved and out of the way as quickly as possible." She shut the door and shouted to the guards, "Don't just stand there! Get your thumbs out your asses! I want a barrier up and formed this instant!" Soon a dome-shaped shield was conjured on top of the car, bathing the interior in a soft, muted sea green hue.

Sylvia leaned out of her seat across her armrest and pressed up against the window. "So those are Norma," she said. Angelise scooted closer to her, barely brushing up against Momoka as she moved out of the way. She braced herself against the back of the driver's seat and settled her head next to Sylvia's.

On the sidewalk was a crowd of civilians and in the center was a young woman. She was on her knees and had her arms pulled behind her back by a guard in royal livery, who held fast and firm against her constant struggling; and in front of her, not even a foot away, there was a kid encased in a Shield spell. A really young kid that had to be like two or three, ignorant of the situation and the commotion going on around her.

Angelise glanced at Julio. "How can she be a Norma? I thought Norma start showing signs when they're, you know, older. Like, when they're preteens."

He smiled. "That's right…this is your first time seeing a Norma, isn't it? Well dear sister, a Norma doesn't have to listen to gangsta rap, join flash mobs, and steal their parents' car to participate in illegal street racing (among other things) to be one."

"Then what does?" asked Sylvia.

"Just watch."

They did. They watched the woman scream and fight harder against the grip on her as a man cautiously approached the child. Hell, he was almost tiptoeing, Angelise saw, as if he was making an attempt at deactivating a landmine. What could a little, defenseless girl do against omnipresent Mana?

"Don't you touch her!" the woman snapped at the man, who started and stopped just short of brushing up against the Shield. "Leave her alone!"

He opened his mouth, closed it, shaking his head in frustration. He looked off to the side at another man who was bent over halfway inside their car. "Hurry up with that," he snapped, much more harshly than he intended. "She might—"

"Yeah yeah, hold your boxers," his companion answered back. "It's right here." He extracted himself, closed the door, and turned around. In his hands he held a small crate with glass panels. "See? I'm sober and I didn't place it in the trunk like the last nugget we crammed in."

"Then quit taking your sweet time and _come on!_" The other man beckoned him impatiently, and he stared suspiciously, and a touch fearfully, down at the child ogling at the Light of Mana. "I think she might be onto us…."

Seeing the second man and his container pinched the woman's face with great, dark despair. "W-Wait! No! Don't! Give Sara a chance! Sh-She's just having a hard time using Mana! She'll get better! I know she will!"

As she was ranting, little Sara, like all children, took an interest at that glowing, shimmering green triangle right away. So did Angelise and Sylvia, as they saw her reach out with a chubby hand and press against it.

Except it shattered. The entire Shield broke into hundreds of thousands of residual pieces and evaporated into thin air. That got everyone to clam up and look at her as though she had grown a second head, except they all knew that was too cliché so instead they all agreed within the boundaries that establishes the phenomenon of the hive mind that they looked at her as though her head split open like a melon and tentacles sprouted from every pore and orifice of her body, a vessel of some old god shaped like an artichoke full of eyes buried in the bowels of a temple tainted by dark magic. Then they immediately came to the conclusion they read that particular series of books one too many times (which resulted in being placed right on the Empire's list of banned books challenging the mental comprehension of the populace) and decided they really should stare at the kid some more because why not.

Can you believe that shit?

Angelise couldn't believe it. She didn't even care. The instant the kid broke the Shield she brought everyone and everything back to reality by yelling the first three words rising unbidden from her mouth: "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" She pushed away from the window and would've rolled head over ass across the backseat if Momoka hadn't been sitting right behind her to stop her from doing so. She sent glances between her siblings, her maid, the scene outside, and back again, jabbing a finger. "…D-Did you see that?! She…she…_holy BALLS!_"

Sylvia gasped. "Sis! You…you swore!"

Angelise blinked owlishly at her. "I…I what?" Realization lit her face like a beacon. "I mean, 'gosh dangit to heck and back!' That slipped out, honest!"

Momoka laughed. "Yeah right! Took you long enough!" She slapped Angelise on the back. "Everybody knows acting in-character isn't a trend anymore! Get with the times, you hag!"

"It's quite refreshing, actually," said Julio. "You didn't hear it from me, but word through the grapevine was you were suspected of being a Norma. It's an unusual, not to mention a very rare, variant; it's almost unheard of, but there have been cases here and there."

"Yeah, who the fuck doesn't want to fucking swear like a cocksucking sailor? It's make us sound cool!"

"And honest!" Sylvia added.

"And classy," Julio added, and winked.

"It makes you sound like fucking savages!" said Angelise. She growled, shaking her head. "Fuck! I mean…dammit! No! Shit! What I meant to say was…oh fucking shit hell ding-dong dammit, you get the idea! And I don't hear you swearing up and down Main Street!" She snapped at Julio. "Does that make you a Norma?"

"Nay, dear sister, I have my moments. You're just not around to see them."

"Oh yeah, like your patented holy hand grenade!"

"There's nothing wrong with the way we act, Milady," said Momoka. "Be true to yourself, and maybe people won't be calling you a freak of nature behind your back!"

"I don't like jumping on bandwagons, and I'm certainly not a freak of nature!"

"But you're _my_ freak. Remember that."

Their conversation ended there, for a number of things happened all at once. The woman screamed, gaping and gawking and vehemently shaking her head. The crowd murmured and pointed at the child, some wondering aloud what the number of Norma found in this year alone made. The guardsmen jumped and yelled in shock, and the first man quickly scooped the girl into his arms. He held her a little bit away from her, like she was a bomb ready to go off at any moment, and Angelise would've laughed if the situation wasn't so serious.

He stammered: "Um, um…un-un-under the Norma Management Act, Section One Third Passage, th-th-this individual is h-h-hereby certified as Norma number one-two-zero-three-dash-seven-six…oh Maker, get it away from me! Open the box, open the box, open the box!" He damn near tossed the kid at his friend, who fumbled getting the crate open (and at one point almost dropping it in his haste).

"Sara's not an 'it', you fucking bastards!" the woman snarled through her tears. She wrenched futilely toward the half-assed exchange. "Please! Give her back!"

"I don't understand," said Sylvia, her expression both curious and uncomprehending. "Why is she going through all that trouble defending a Norma? Sure, that little girl doesn't look like much now, but when she's older…sis, what are you doing?"

Angelise ignored her. She rapped her knuckles against the window, catching the attention of a guard standing close by, then rolled it down at the press of a switch when he entered the barrier. "Bring it down," she told him. "I'm coming out."

That got everyone's attention. "Mi-Milady!" the man exclaimed.

"Sis, are you nuts?!"

"Yeah, when did you start sniffing that primo white?" said Momoka. "Because if you are, let me tell you, you can't snort that shit straight up right from the get-go! You should've come to me first!"

"I don't touch any of that shit…I mean…!" Angelise snarled. "Look," she told the guard, "just bring it down, alright? It'll only take a couple minutes."

"Wh-Whatever for?"

"To put her in her place."

"It's too dangerous, Milady!" the man stammered. "I-If something were to happen to you…."

"At ease, good man," Julio said, waving aside his concerns. "Angelise can take care of herself, but you'll be there to help her should the need arises, won't you?" He nodded wisely. "This will make a fine learning experience for everyone involved. Go on now. No sense in waiting."

The guard licked his lips, hesitating. "Alright," he acquiesced, and moved away to relay the message to the others around the car. A moment later the barrier was dropped. Angelise hopped out of the car and closed the door behind her.

She didn't stop when she didn't hear it click into place. She could imagine Momoka halting its descent, and if she looked behind she wouldn't be wrong. "Hey! Hey hey hey hey! You come back here, young lady! You get back in this car right now!"

"Just keep walking," Angelise mumbled to herself, suppressing a weary sigh. "Don't look back…."

"I'm-a count to three, dammit, and if you're not in the car by three I'm gonna pop my patented Bomb spell right by your ears! You know the one I'm talking 'bout! The one that imitates the sound of popping a paper bag, except even louder! And more awesome, but not for you! ONE! TWO—"

"She's already there," Angelise faintly heard Sylvia tell her.

"FUCK!"

_Maker, what did I do in my past life to deserve this?_ She brought her focus back to the situation. In their tight knit group people took immediate notice of her, exclaiming their surprise, but she paid them no heed. Her eyes were solely on the hysterical woman, quickly masking the stab of pity in her chest. _Don't show it. They'll think you're weak, and I, the First Princess of Misurugi, am not weak._

"Please!" the woman shouted after the guardsmen; she was no longer being held, but she did not move from where she kneeled. "Give me another chance! I'll get her to show Mana! Just don't take her away from me!"

"But the lack of Mana marks your child as a Norma," said Angelise, and the woman whirled around. "No exceptions can be made!"

"L-Lady Angelise?!" She glanced desperately between the princess and the men carrying Sara away into the cop car. "Please, Milady, I need more time! A little more is all I need, and Sara will—"

"Sara never will!" Angelise swept her arm out. "You and everyone else saw it! It can't be denied!"

"But—!"

"You know full well Norma are a blight to human evolution. We were blessed to receive the Light of Mana, but the Norma? The Norma are damned. They're violent, antisocial miscreants that refuse to conform to our standard of living. They're not human. They're thugs! They're animals loose upon our streets!" Angelise stared at the woman pointedly, her face terrible and fair, crowned in a halo of gold. "You can't possibly hope to raise a Norma and expect it to contribute to society like a good citizen. How does that saying go again? You can take the Norma out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto of the Norma? Yeah, that one. You can try all you want, it…it's not gonna happen."

"You don't know that!" said the woman. "Not every Norma is a degenerate! I can give my daughter a purpose! Her life can mean something!"

"I don't think you understand what I'm saying," Angelise growled. "Your kid's a Norma. Norma are dogs. Therefore, the Norma need to be put down _like the vermin they are._"

The woman's jaw dropped. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks. She ground her teeth together. Through it all, Angelise brushed it off. She smiled and shrugged, replacing severity with a good-natured air. "Look on the bright spot. You can try and have another child. You know, one that can actually use Mana. Your little Sara? She's just another number in a long list of statistics. You'll forget her once you and your husband get to work; and if in a few months you go for your sonogram and your doctor tells you he suspects the slightest bit of the Norma strain, you can go to our abortion clinics. The lines might be long and waiting around in the lounge listening for your name and number to be called could be a bore, but it's smooth sailing once you're in. Look at it this way: that child will serve its purpose a lot more than it would alive, like advancing stem cell research—WHOA!"

The woman roared and lunged at Angelise, hands flying for her throat. The crowd screamed and fell over themselves drawing away from her. Angelise jumped back, narrowly avoiding those outstretched fingers, and as she was backpedalling she lost her footing and started to fall.

"Lady Angelise!" There was Momoka's voice, and then there was the presence of Momoka catching her from behind. Straightening herself, aware of the hands clamped like vices on her arms, Angelise got to see the guardsman she had spoken to not two minutes ago beautifully clothesline the woman. Another guard pounced on top of her as soon as she hit the ground, pinning her arms behind her.

Then she was howling, a piercing, high note that hurt everyone's ears and withdraw even further. She howled her child's name, howled for the royal guard to let Sara go, to let her go. Her crying and hiccupping made her words thick, making it difficult to understand what she was saying.

Momoka glanced at her and made a disgusted sound. She led Angelise away from the scene, back toward the car. "Baby, you alright?"

"I'm alright," said Angelise.

"You sure? Bitch nearly tackled you!" Momoka grabbed Angelise under the chin, turning her head this way and that. "She didn't scratch ya, did she? If I so much as see a sliver of blood, I'll…!"

"I said, I'm alright!" Angelise threw the hand off her. "She just startled me."

"I _knew_ something like this was going to happen! See, this is what we're trying to protect you from! You can't just stand there like you're the fucking main character and expect plot armor to shield your ass from danger while you're boring your antagonists to sleep with Talk no Jutsu! It doesn't work!"

"I was trying to reason with her—"

"Crazies like her don't believe in reason! Even when the facts are laid out in front of them and shoved right up in their faces, they don't want to believe! They go off to some bar or night club and drown themselves in their own waste!" Momoka clicked her tongue and quickened her pace. "Just forget about her. Come on."

When they got inside, Julio asked Angelise, "So, what did you think?"

She didn't answer, not until Riza and her retinue filed back into their vehicles and gave the okay to continue their homeward trek. Looking out the window, aware of Momoka's eyes and Sylvia's eyes upon her, the scene replayed itself on a street returning to a sense of normalcy. People were moving on with their lives, loose lips passing gossip along a never-ending chain of opinions, questions, and, ultimately, collective agreement.

The woman was nowhere to be seen.

Her chest constricted again, a twisted knife.

Angelise sighed and shrugged. "I honestly don't know."


	4. 1-3

Later that night, Angelise lounged against the balcony. Dressed in only her undergarments and a very thin, very transparent negligee, the air nipped coldly at her bare skin, but each time she reminded herself to ignore it. Sometimes a girl wants to forgo traditional conventions and bare it all; in this manner, this girl wants to feel a little more vulnerable, a little closer to nature, and by doing so she could feel beautiful. Sexy, even.

Running that line of thought through her head, Angelise's cheeks and neck burned with humiliation. Who in their right minds would use that word in everyday conversations? 'Sex' was a word no one used except for inside the privacy of their own homes. To call yourself 'sexy' meant you were objectifying yourself, kind of life saying you were 'dope' or 'fly' or 'ratchet', and why would anyone want to be compared to crack cocaine, an insect, or a socket wrench?

Then she remembered that no good citizen of Misurugi would talk like that; they may act out of character, but even they weren't that stupid. Only Norma talked and acted like thugs. They had a plethora of strange words, got high, ran in gangs and killed each other for no reason other than to let the bullets fly and the blood flow. If any of them lived, they would compose those experiences into song and give voice to it as some perverse accolade to their fallen. It would be a challenge to the government, but most of all it would be a challenge not just to her family but to Angelise herself.

That shit wasn't going to stand.

Although...she had to give those Norma credit; their songs were filth, but they could sing. They could write and come up with a beat as soon as the music started, and with that music and their words they could get the body moving, the blood pumping, and the crowd jumping. That was one thing the Norma had that humanity didn't. She never saw her friends get down with their bad selves the way Norma could…unless it involved dubstep. Scratchy, screeching, ear-shredding dubstep. And trance. That soul-sucking, hip-thrusting trance.

She grimaced. _Rap is crap…but I can't say my definition of fun includes leaving my sanity at the door whenever 'Sandstorm' plays._ This called back a scene after laria practice last year, in which, after filling out the availability sheet for when her team could peruse the stadium throughout the month, Angelise had walked into the locker room with the overhead speakers blasting, the walls, floors and ceiling quaking, and a flood of panties, bras, and personal unmentionables strewn all over the place. Strobe lights were flashing epileptically, and the only thing Angelise could think of was what kind of bizarro world did she just walk into, _where did these damn things come from?!_

It was fucking dark in here and she couldn't even hear herself think. Shadows of her friends and teammates shifted back and forth between the seizure-inducing realm of light and shadow, so when one dark form wriggled past her Angelise grabbed it by the shoulders and yanked it toward her, into what little light the receding hallway provided. "Hey, what the heck's going on—Akiho?!"

"Ange! Baby! You're just in time!" The girl gushed.

"For what? I don't sling stupid! And what the hell are you wearing, take that off—" She froze when she touched the soft, thin fabric, and upon getting a better glimpse of it, "Why is my underwear on your head?!"

Akiho tossed her head back and laughed. The garment was stretched across her skull and over her eyes, tufts of scruffy brown hair emerging from the holes like wild grass. "This is my mask, Ange! Didn't you know? I'm not Akiho when I wear this! Nah, nah! When I wear this I'm the All-Bloomer, Keeper of the Fruit of the Loom! I fight menstrual stains and brown notes with the power of ultra-concentrated detergent!"

Angelise threw her hands up and gazed heavenward. "_Oh my Maker,_" she grumbled. Leaning in close so she could be heard, she shouted, "You hit the base again, didn't you?"

"Base? Oh! You mean the magic powder! The Happy Gas! Yeah, yeah, I did, man! Breathe it in, sister! Bask in it! Let it embrace you!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, no base on the premises! Not before practice, not during practice, not after! Do you want to rehabilitated again?"

"Oh, live a little, Ange! We've got Rosenblum running with their dicks tucked between their legs! They've got nothing on the Phoenix!"

"Laria's an all-girls league!"

"I'm not talking about the guys!"

"Then what are you—" She froze, horrified. "Good God, what is _wrong_ with you?!" Angelise shoved Akiho aside, who laughed and bounced bonelessly off the wall onto the floor, and plunged into the psychedelic depths of the locker room. Girls all around her were grinding and popping and, and, Angelise didn't really want to think about it, but she thought she saw a few of them having some pretty heavy frottage in the corner right outside the janitor's door.

_No more!_ She shivered and retreated from the memory before it could continue any further. _No…No more._

Angelise sighed and folded her hands one on top of the other over her bare arms. As much as she didn't want to revisit it, it was better than recalling what happened earlier today. _It had to be done. Sylvia's too young and Julio would rather sit on his ass and let the Norma destroy themselves instead of dealing with them personally. Why does everyone expect me to sit back and let things carry on the way they are?_

She took in the sprawling cityscape below, some rising taller and higher than others like glittering threading needles. Somewhere, huddled in dark alleys or scurrying in the forgotten niches of the sewer systems underneath, the Norma hid, sleeping and fucking and getting lost in psychotropic paradigms. It left a bitter taste on her tongue. _Eking out an existence like that…why do they even bother? They don't belong here. They don't belong anywhere at all._

_They should just die._

She wanted to scream. Something inside her constricted, writhed and raged and wept. She thought she heard a voice scream, so faint and distant on the wind. _I'm imagining things. What could I possibly hear this high up except myself?_

Angelise smirked mirthlessly. _At least I don't have to hear Norma fumble with their rap. Why do they have to sing so fast if they can't even keep up?_ "I can do better," she declared smugly. Of course she could, she wasn't one of them. Plus she had quite the gift for singing, inheriting the lessons from her mother: to let the words flow from her lips like liquid, to let the rhythm and the beat of the music to caress her like the wind. She could easily outshine them all. _And even if I do mess up, who's going to hear me?_

She wracked her mind for a song, all of which she had heard blasting from those rectangular crates the rowdier Norma were reported to carry upon their arrest; Julio said they were called _boomboxes_ (_"No, dear sister, they're not powered with _explosives_…but they may as well be."_) It didn't take her long to decide on it, for out of all those songs this one was played the most almost every time she went for laria practice. She didn't recognize some of the words or places mentioned, but she shrugged it off as some nonce of creative liberties the Norma that wrote it took to make it sound edgy and meaningful.

First she played the song out in her head, pursed her lips and rolled her tongue in preparation. Then, when she felt confident enough to maintain the flow of the words to the music, she sang:

"I don't give a fuck!  
>They done push me to the limit, I'm all in.<br>I might blow up any minute, did it again.  
>Now I'm in the back of the paddy wagon<br>While this cop's bragging about the nigga he's jackin'  
>I see no justice!<br>All I see is niggas dyin' fast  
>The sound of a gun blast<br>Then watch the hurst past.  
>Just another day in the life, G,<br>Gotta step lightly 'cause the cops' tried to snipe me.  
>The catch, they don't wanna stop at the brother, man,<br>But then they'll have an accident and pick up another man.  
>I went to the bank to cash my check.<br>I get more respect from the motherfuckin' dope man.  
>The Grammy's and the American music shows pimp us like hoes<br>They got dough but they hate us, though.  
>You better keep your mind on the real shit<br>And fuck trying to get with these crooked-ass hypocrites.  
>The way they see it, we was meant to be keep down,<br>Just can't understand why we getting respect now.  
>Mama told me there'd be days like this<br>But I'm _pissed_ 'cause it stays like this  
>And now they're trying to send me off to Kuwait<br>Gimme a break!  
>How much shit can a nigga take?<br>I ain't going nowhere no how  
>What, you wanna throw down?<br>Better bring your guns, pal!  
>'Cause this is the day we make 'em pay.<br>Fuckin' bailin' hate, I bail and spray with my AK  
>And even if they shoot me down<br>There'll be another nigga bigger  
>From the motherfuckin' underground.<br>So step but you better step quick  
>'Cause the clock's going tick and I'm sick <em>of the bullshit!<em>  
>You're watching the makings of a psychopath<br>The truth didn't last  
>Before the wrath and aftermath.<p>

Angelise's body was moving, bopping and groovin', and a toothy grin stretched unbidden across her face. Sure it was vulgar, but…this was pretty boss! "Who's that behind the trigger? Who do you figure?! A motherfuckin' night nigga! Ready to buck and rip shit up! I had enough! And I just don't give a fuck—OH FUCK, MOM!" So engrossed in her own beat that when Angelise turned around she came face to face with her mother, Sophia, who was standing almost right on top of her. Angelise jumped and hit the back of the banister. "I-I-It's not what you think it is! Th-The wind was blowing just now and, and, and it gave me am-amnesia! I thought I was a Symphogear, you know, one of those songstress warriors in those books all the girls my age read, and, um, shit…!"

"Ange, Ange, it's alright!" said Sophia, gently grabbing the girl's shoulders. "I won't tell anyone!"

"Are you sure?" Angelise's eyes darted back and forth, fearful and helpless.

"Yes!"

There was a period of silence. Angelise breathed a sigh of relief and pried her mother's hands off. "Maker. How long have you been here?"

"Around the part where the United States got involved in the Persian Gulf War."

"Mom, we've never been to war! And what's the United States? The world's already united."

Sophia's face twitched. Angelise thought, in that brief second, she saw a flicker of discomfort. Then it was gone, replaced with that easygoing smile she loved seeing. "Oh, I'm just spouting nonsense. Part of the song, you know."

"The whole song is full of nonsense," Angelise sniffed.

"But you always sing it when something's bothering you," Sophia noted. "Alone, too. How about I sing it with you this time? It's far too quiet up here, and I'm sure we can increase the circulation of positive harmonic energies if we combined our legendaries voices into a single force of thematic nature."

"Maker, no! Those words are too uncouth for you! You're a woman of grace, a paragon of cleanliness among the mass of hipsters and bandwagon jumpers!"

"Ange, it's okay to swear every now and then. Saying 'shit' one-hundred-sixty-two times within the space of twenty minutes won't summon the Knights of Standard and Practices and bring about the end of the world."

"Well you won't see me acting like the rest of the rabble! It's unbecoming of a noble lady."

"Ah, but you like that song. You can deny it but it won't do you any good." Sophia tipped her chin. "I can see it in your eyes. I can hear it in your voice. It moves you in ways you don't quite understand."

The air suddenly got a lot colder. Her cheeks warming, Angelise rubbed the back of her neck, feeling very shy. "How do I put this…when I sing it, I forget about everything. The past, the present, the future, all the little things that allows the Empire to function. I just…stop giving a fuck about them." She coughed. "Pardon my Galian."

Sophia ignored it, didn't show any signs she was offended by her words. "Even though it's a Norma song, it has its meaning. It protects them, in a way, gives them strength to see their hardships through. It shows them a path they can follow, just as we can choose our own."

"Then I want to go on the path that will let me protect the Empire," said Angelise. She turned again toward the skyline in all its glimmering, midnight glory. "I love this world. It's a paradise untouched by the vagaries of war, poverty, and all other ills. No anger, no grief, no conflict. One day the call of destiny will sound, and when that day comes I will not refuse it. I will take my place upon the throne and do everything in my God-given power to ensure my people's happiness. And to do that, mom, I have to purge the darkness that infests our home: the Norma." Her hands clenched white on the rail. "I saw one today, after the game ended. A little girl. She looked no different than the other children her age. She acted like them and sounded like them. She was completely unaware of what was going on around her…but she broke it. She broke the Light of Mana." She shook her head in disbelief. "How…How can something like that exist? That…That's something you only read about in fiction. It's not real, but I saw it happen. I witnessed the impossible become reality."

"No one knows how the Norma came to be," said Sophia. "We don't know why only girls and women can become Norma. There's so much we've yet to learn."

"That's why something must be done about them," said Angelise. "As soon as I succeed you, I'll get to work right away. I'll shed light on this mystery, and once we've uncovered all there is to know about Norma I'll get rid of them." She smiled. "The world will be better off without a bunch of thugs tainting the Light and our society. Their music, their literature, anything and anyone related to them, they'll all be gone. We'd never have to worry about them ever again. Don't you think so, Mom?" She waited for an answer, but it didn't come. "Mom?" Angelise regarded her and again there was that flash of emotion, only now instead of discomfort it was a cauldron of fear, anger, and…was that regret? _What's there to be sad about?_

It must have showed on Sophia's face because once more her face shifted into a smiling, neutral expression, as though it had never been there to begin with. "Yes. Yes, you're…you're right."

"I don't believe you," said Angelise; it was put so plainly and bluntly it startled Sophia. "You're a good person and a good ruler, but even a good ruler must know when she has to stop playing nice with the enemy. Kindness means weakness, and it's a weakness that's bound to be taken advantage of. I don't want that to happen to you, to Dad, to Slyvia, to anybody."

"I know, but…does it have to be that way? Have you ever wondered that just once we can get the Norma to sit down and listen? There _are_ alternatives…."

"Mom, I mean no disrespect, but the last time you tried appealing to them with words they worked themselves into a frenzy and rioted in the business district. We were lucky we managed to stop them from causing too much damage. You don't want that to happen again, do you?"

Sophia frowned, blew a little sigh. "No. No I don't. Whatever you do under your reign is final, Ange. I can make suggestions and point you in a particular direction, but in the end it's your call. I'm…sorry for doubting you." She made as if to take her leave and retire for the night but stopped. "Oh! I almost forgot to ask: how does it feel turning sixteen?"

Angelise rolled her shoulders. "I'm not sixteen just yet. As for how I feel? Not any different than I am now."

Sophia chuckled. "Oh, you will. Believe me. You won't feel it right away, but when you do it'll be like having a monkey on your back."

"Um, Mom, that's not how you're supposed to put it…."

"No, really, it does. That bastard really knows how to clobber your senses into you. It did for me when I was your age."

Angelise shrugged. "If that's how it is. Whether or not I feel different doesn't have any bearings because it'll be the same thing next year. Undergoing the Purification Ritual, however, that only happens once in a lifetime." Angelise craned her neck back, scanning the towering majesty of the Dawn Pillar; she could barely see the spires rising into the heavens. "It feels so far away."

"Are you nervous?" asked Sophia.

"I shouldn't be…but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. It's one thing to compete on the field with a stadium full of people. It's another thing having the eyes of the whole country watching you from their holoscreens."

"I wouldn't worry about it. It's real simple. As in, you could stroke a bit of paint on a blank canvas and no one would care if it's crooked or the wrong color. You'll see tomorrow."

"I'll take your word for it," said Angelise. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'm gonna go to bed. We can talk later in the morning. Good night."

She was about to walk past Sophia when the older woman stopped her. "Ah, Ange! One more thing. Here." She pulled a ring off her finger and slipped it over Angelise's left middle finger.

The girl studied it curiously, turning her hand over. In its center was set a small green jewel. "The Imperial Family's signet," she said in a hushed, awed tone. "Why are you giving this to me?"

Sophia tapped the gem with the tip of a nail. "For luck. If you ever feel sad or scared or angry, just look at this and think of me. Don't look at the crowd and swap their faces with mine because that's not effective, that's pretty damn creepy."

"Better you than a million different faces," said Angelise.

Sophia laughed. "If it'll make you feel better!" She patted the girl on the shoulder. "You'll do fine. Just focus on the ritual and it'll be over before you know it."

"So I will. And, thank you." Angelise covered Sophia's hand with her own, and it radiated warmth beneath the cusp of her palm. "I pray that the Light will protect you as well."


End file.
